promise you, is permanent. that does it for us. see you again one hour from now. erin burnett's "outfront" starts now. >>> 28 days away, what does it take for a deal? and the use of chemical weapons will bring an immediate reaction from the community. our panel, we'll ask them if the united states will go to war. and a new movie about osama bin laden sparks oscar buzz and outrate. let's go "outfront." >>> good evening, everyone, i'm erin burnett. "outfront" tonight, let there be light. finally, some bulbs turned on in washington this evening. well, on the congressional christmas tree, that is. pretty beautiful. lights, love, camaraderie, song. but while our lawmakers took some time to celebrate together, they still weren't showing any spark when it came to negotiating a deal to avoid the fiscal cliff, which is the christmas present the country needs. today we heard president obama's response to the proposal that house speaker john boehner put on the table yesterday. >> the speaker's proposal right now is still out of balance. >> of out of balance. kind of similar to what republicans said